He Founded A Charity For Youth Mental Health Before He Turned 30 | Dear Singapore

Key Concepts

• Limitless: A local nonprofit organization founded by Asher, dedicated to providing accessible mental health services for young people aged 12-25.
• Accessible Services: The core belief of Limitless is to meet young people where they are, offering services in informal settings like McDonald's and cafes rather than traditional counseling rooms or centers.
• Barriers to Help: The transcript identifies cost, confidentiality, and trust as significant obstacles preventing young people from seeking mental health support.
• Team Sacrifice: The emotional strain, late nights, and personal time sacrificed by the Limitless team are highlighted as crucial to their work.
• Financial Strain: Asher and his team have experienced significant financial sacrifices, including not taking salaries and struggling to afford basic necessities for their families, to sustain the organization.
• Importance of Mentorship: Asher's own positive life trajectory is attributed to the care, mentorship, and guidance he received, inspiring him to provide similar support to young people.
• Parental Involvement: Survey data indicates parents desire their children to reach out to them first for help, emphasizing the need for open family communication about mental health.
• Organizational Growth and Impact: Despite personal sacrifices, the growth of Limitless and its life-saving impact on young people are presented as deeply rewarding.

Accessible Mental Health Services for Youth

Asher, the founder and executive director of Limitless, a nonprofit organization serving young people aged 12-25, discusses the critical need for accessible mental health services. Limitless operates on the core belief of "being where the young people are." This approach emerged from the realization that young individuals often do not attend traditional counseling sessions at centers or school rooms. Instead, Limitless has found success in meeting them in familiar, informal environments such as McDonald's, cafes, and void decks. Asher notes that these locations provide a sense of safety for young people, allowing them to leave if a conversation becomes too difficult.

Barriers to Seeking Help

The transcript outlines several significant barriers that hinder young people from accessing mental health support:

• Cost: Financial constraints are a major deterrent.
• Confidentiality: Concerns about privacy are paramount.
• Trust: A significant barrier, often stemming from negative experiences or peer anecdotes. Asher provides a stark example: "All it takes is for one young person in a secondary school class to say, 'Wow, I went to this counselor and the counselor went to go and tell my parents.' That's it. You know, you have 40 young people, right? They will never trust a counselor." This highlights the fragility of trust in this context.

Limitless aims to "bridge that gap" by addressing these barriers through its unconventional service delivery model.

The Sacrifices of the Limitless Team

The success and impact of Limitless are heavily reliant on the dedication and sacrifices of its team members. Asher acknowledges the "late nights," "emotional strain," and the act of "giving up their own time with their family" by his colleagues, all driven by their belief in the organization's mission. He emphasizes the importance of reciprocal care: "We want to take care of people so that they can take care of people." This includes ensuring they are "paying them sufficiently" and taking care of their "mental well-being," with Asher himself being "on call for them whenever they need."

Personal Financial Strain and Family Impact

Asher shares deeply personal accounts of the financial sacrifices he and his wife, Joel, have made to sustain Limitless. He states, "I haven't really had time to think about my own self-care and and uh my own needs for years." The team has "sacrifice[d] our time. We sacrifice our own mental wellbeing and uh we sacrifice even our finances."

Specific examples of financial hardship include:

• Inability to afford small necessities: Asher recounts wanting to buy a pair of baby booties for his son, costing around $12, but being unable to afford it.
• Reliance on gifted items: "Close to 90% of the toys are not bought. Most most are given."
• No salary for the founder: Asher did not take a salary for the first few years of Limitless.
• Multiple jobs: To compensate for the lack of salary, Asher worked "something like three jobs," including running programs in schools during the day and teaching craft at night.
• Impact on family time: This demanding schedule meant sacrificing "time together" with his family.

Asher reflects on the emotional toll of this financial insecurity, stating, "When you see the money in your bank start to diminish, it's a very real feeling." He also expresses a commitment to preventing his colleagues from enduring similar hardships: "I don't want my colleagues to to have to go through that as well."

A Moment of Doubt and Breakthrough

A critical juncture for Limitless occurred when Asher contemplated giving up due to a lack of funding. He recalls a conversation with Joel on the kitchen floor, asking, "if was it next week or next month or something like that that no funding comes through nothing happens for us we just give up." However, within "a couple of weeks," they received news of their "very first big run" of funding, which provided a crucial lifeline.

The Motivation Behind Limitless

Asher's personal journey and belief system are central to the ethos of Limitless. He acknowledges that the life he has chosen is not for everyone and involves "a lot of figuring out along the way." His own upbringing in a "single parent home" and not having the "best crowd" would have led to a different life trajectory had it not been for the intervention of caring individuals.

He states, "My life would not have turned out this way had it not been for the fact that I had people who cared about me, people who bothered to mentor me and people who bothered to walk journeys with me." This experience fuels his desire to provide similar support to young people, believing it would be "so good if the young people out there, you know, had someone like that as well." He is driven by a desire to "go out there to make an impact, make a difference in their lives" and "believes in second chances because he believes that they deserve it."

Broader Impact and Future Outlook

The conversation expands to consider the wider implications and future of mental health support.

Parental Involvement and Communication

Data from a survey of parents reveals a strong desire for their children to initiate help-seeking conversations: "100% of the parents that were surveyed mentioned and indicated that they would really really like for their young people or their children to reach out to them first for help." This finding underscores the necessity for parents to proactively reach out to their children and to "normalize talking about mental health issues as a family."

Personal Growth and Evolving Role

Asher reflects on his personal growth since founding Limitless. His "outlook in life" and "mindset" have "definitely widened." He has developed resilience, particularly in his ability to "ask for money," noting, "I've definitely grown in terms of how thick my skin is." While he "definitely do miss doing counseling" and "working with my clients," he finds profound satisfaction in seeing the organization grow and its impact, including "lives change and even life save."

A Call to Action

Asher concludes with a message to Singapore: "And dear Singapore, you don't have to be exceptional. You can fill the needs that you see. All you need to do is use what is in your hand to do what is in your heart." This is a powerful call to action, encouraging individuals to leverage their existing resources and passions to address unmet needs within their communities.

Conclusion

The transcript details the vital work of Limitless in providing accessible mental health services to young people, overcoming significant barriers like cost, confidentiality, and trust through an innovative, youth-centered approach. It highlights the profound personal and financial sacrifices made by Asher and his team, driven by a deep commitment to making a difference. The narrative underscores the importance of mentorship, parental involvement in mental health discussions, and the transformative power of an organization dedicated to supporting vulnerable youth. Ultimately, the message is one of hope, resilience, and the impactful potential of individuals using their resources and hearts to serve their communities.